Wednesday, December 05, 2007

It's a Festivus Miracle!

So Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and one of the Molina Staal brothers are in town tonight. Apparently I'm supposed to be abuzz about this. Yawn. Good players, sure. But have any of them ever soothed an enraged cobra back into its basket with a lullaby version of "Love is a Battlefield?" Doubt it. Any of them ever pokecheck an opponent in overtime of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals, and then score the short-handed winner over the goalie's glove hand while their eyes were closed and one of their hands were tied behind their back with cable wire? Nope. Well I'm aware of someone who has done these things, and he's playing his first game in front of a home crowd tonight after horse collaring ulcerative colitis to the ground and spitting in its eye. Oh, and that home crowd is composed of citizens from his actual hometown, so forgive me if I remain unimpressed about a bunch of Boys-on-the-Bus-wannabes-who-light-it-up-against-the-Islanders-Capitals-Thrashers-and-the-rest-of-the-National-League-but-are-still-only-playing-.500-hockey strolling into town. Get in line, kids. Tonight, it's all about San Fernando Pisani, the Patron Saint of Lost Hockey Causes.

Alright, I'm (mostly) kidding. I'm as excited to see Crosby and Malkin as the next guy. But I am more excited to see San Fernando take the ice at Rexall tonight, even though it will probably make me choke up (Pisani doesn't like cry-babies). I'm also excited to see Le GG lumbering around the ice for five minutes. I'm even kind of hoping he beats up The L Column right in front of the Oilers bench, and then points at MacT and mouths the words "I'm Le Best" to him. That would make me smile. Also making me smile? An Oilers victory, which would keep us three points ahead of the Flames, move us in front of the Ducks (who will help us by losing to the Sabres tonight), and put us even closer to the final playoff spot (and 1st in the Northwest).

Other Notes

 Oilers fans living in Calgary should know that The Loil will be gathering at Flames Central tonight to watch the game. All are welcome.

 Apparently there are "blogspots" dedicated to Sidney Crosby. 95-year old men not yet acquainted with the internet writing for Canadian Press, too.

 Anyone unconvinced that Alberta truly is the land of milk and honey should read this article on a proposed health club for Calgary. Any time you refer to something as a "Dubai type of project," you know you have way more money than is necessary. I just like the fact that Dolemo Developments made this announcement right at the beginning of December. What better time than a freezing day a few weeks before Christmas to announce that you're going to build a private club with a car wash inside of it? Jesus would be so proud. Oh, and note the price tag on that facility with the restaurants, hotel and hockey arena inside of it. $1 billion.

 I've also been staring at the salary and cap overview for the Oilers at NHL Numbers. Counting 15 players (Penner, Hemsky, Horcoff, Pisani, Torres, Moreau, Gagner, Cogliano, Brodziak, Souray, Staios, Greene, Smid, Roloson, Garon), the Oilers have $36.758 of cap space already committed for next season. The RFA's for 08/09 include Stoll, Nilsson, Thoresen, Pitkanen, Grebeshkov and Gilbert. My own view is that signing Gilbert and Pitkanen should be the top priorities. But what will they cost? How much cap space will be left over? And I've said it a million times, but how about that Souray contract? You know who I blame? Daryl Katz. If he hadn't forced the Oilers into a panicked, idiotic PR move by putting forward a reasonable offer for ownership and a commitment to spend to the cap this summer, we wouldn't be stuck with that albatross of a contract (and pylon of a player). But nooo, he had to go and make the EIG try and save face by negotiating with a guy no one else in the league was willing to sign. Good job, Daryl. Glad to see you hate Edmonton.Other Takes on the Game Black Dog Hates Skunks mc79hockey Pensblog Covered in Oil

I basically only get to see games broadcasted on CBC or TSN so I'm pretty pleased to get to see The Pisani in his first game back home. I'm pretty confident MacT will do the right thing and have him in the starting lineup and it will be great to see the ovation he gets. Some decent storylines going into this game but Pisani is the biggest for sure.

Some decent storylines going into this game but Pisani is the biggest for sure.

I forgot to fuel rumours that Roloson is going to be playing tonight so as to showcase him to the Pens for a possible trade. Damn. I'm really failing to live up to my responsibility as irresponsible blogging rumour-monger.

The Pens need a goalie in the worst way. Roloson would be an upgrade for the playoffs for that team and it could be a difference maker for them, Fleury is just so spastic and lets in some of the weakest goals, usually when he slides out to the halfboards to make a save when the puck is going the other way, he looks like my buddy who is horrible at goal and can barely skate yet will strap up after several beers and loads of peer pressure for the outdoor rink. Of course saying all this Fleury will probably steal the show tonight and then go back to sucking in Calgary.

If only Bob Cole were calling this game for the sheer joy of the Stall vs Stoll shifts....right up there with the Classics like "Spacicek" (a combo of Spacek and Vasicek)... and "Pronger, over to the other guy, back to Pronger"

Could be worse in terms of the cap and albatross contracts - caught the leafs last night - I believe they have 42M plus committed to next year already. Oilers have Souray and Penner. Leafs have Raycroft, McCabe, Kubina, Blake, Bell, Tucker and Gill amongst their iffy contracts, although Gill and Raycroft are both finished after next season.

It's going to be interesting to hear what the TSN's yaks have to say after spending the previous 2 hours waxing peotic about 87 and his apostles' journey through the mother land only to have 18,000 give a 10 minute standing ovation to the Saint.

Also fun to look forward to - Staal going 0/0/-2/2PIM and being named Monster of the Game.However, in his post-game interview Pisani will grant McGuire pardon.

The "blogspots" is one thing, but why the hell does the existence of Facebook groups devoted to x or y make it into the meat of any news article?

They've been cited as evidence for the breadth of support for one idea or another in the Journal a ridiculous number of times, considering it probably requires less effort to join a facebook group than slapping a bumper sticker on your car.

Hey, it looks like Niedermayer isn't...dead! Good thing we've already beat them 3 times this year.

Niedermayer is under contract with the Ducks until 2009. If the former returned, he would be paid about $4 million of his $6.75-million salary this season.

That should bump them up to around the $50 million mark. Which means Ketchup won't be coming back unless a trade happens. But why is ESPN saying they need to move salary? Looks to me like they will still be under.

.65 Thoreson (can't command more than min qual offer)1.1 Nillson (counting numbers and age can't command more than min qual offer)1.1 Greb (counting numbers and age can't command more than min qual offer)

1.8 Gilbert (just off his entry deal, no arbi rights, healthy raise based on role)3.5 Pitkanen (starting to rack up the counting numbers)2.4 Stoll (he'd have to be on fire the the last 54 GP to get more than a qual offer. He's already been paid for past performance on the current contract.

47.208 -- even if you want to keep all of them. And perhaps Row-bert and Grebs are the pair to go putting you at $45 M with extra scratch for Pitkanen and Gilbert or Stoll.

Do you not read the links I provide, McLean? Those numbers are included on the NHL numbers page I linked to.

What are the odds of TSN screwing up Pisani's return by either a) continuing to show a Suns/Raptors game that goes over time, or b) doing some opening bit where Maguire fawns over Crosby or Healy talks about the time he was a back-up goalie for the Rangers?

Correct me if I'm wrong but I saw little in the Edmonton dailies about it - all Crosby, all the time.

Ya, they mentioned Le GG and Sykora, but nothing on Pisani's homecoming. I figure they'll report on it two weeks to three years from now, which is the usual length of time they are behind the blogs. Sorry, the blogspots.

I think on Bell ExpressVu TSN has their alternate channel which they will hopefully use to show the return of the Great Healer.If I get home and I'm watching the 4th quarter of TeenWolf's Beavers V. Barney I'm gonna lose it.

This Gretzky/Crosby connection is just dumb. I don't enjoy Sidney Crosby because he reminds me of old Oilers. I enjoy him because he's a damn good hockey player. The only comparison I'd make is that Crosby whines like a baby like Gretzky did when he was 20.

I'm suprised TSN isn't doing some splitscreen action with half the screen covering the gameplay and the other half being a "Crosby Cam" that watches him non - stop including intermissions with no commercial breaks. Was Pisani mentioned once in the pre - show?

Pierre Maguire: Look at this play develop. Sidney Crosby passes to Sidney Crosby in the corner, who outhustles Sidney Crosby for the puck and dishes it over to Sidney Crosby, who then gets two quick shots off on Sidney Crosby. That is why Sidney Crosby is so difficult to stop, Gord Crosby.

Classic tale of 2 cities. Both have struggled mightily over the last decade after winning some championships with some unbelievably stacked teams. Its funny though how the Pens have drafted smart and are lookin lke a risin powerhouse with years of potential. Meanwhile the Oil are pluggin a couple decent rookies and somehow making there fans believe that they are the western conf version of the Pens.

Am I the only one who thinks that even if Maguire does know the game, he's shit at explaining it? He just fellated 48 on PIT for moving back and forth across the net and then 48 completely bails on setting a screen on Roli. Weak.

I swear to God, when Horc got beat to the puck in his own end by Staal, I said out loud, "he'll be embarrassed and come back down and score." And then I said out loud, "Hemsky should be pissed about all the love Crosby is getting." And then, wham!!

When I thought they had run out of things to say when Sid wasn't on the ice, they spent a minute talking about quotes in the papers about Crosby made by other players. Do they actually spend their time reading quotes about Crosby and memorizing them?

Of course you knew Crosby would will the Crosbies to win. At least we know that Maguire will exhaust himself...*ahem...with himself and get a good night's sleep.

Well it was fun while it lasted, here's looking forward to the next game. Keep in mind the Blues are 10-1 in their last couple games or something insane like that though. And Brad Boyes is scoring like crazy.

Well no matter what, the nice things to take away are that Horcoff is now scoring to add to his overall excellent play, and that Pitkanen is looking more and more like that 1st pair rushing D-man we hoped he would be.

And Lord Bob, that's a *weaksauce* excuse...being dirty...sheesh. Although I think it was my fault, every game I've seen the Oilers seem to lose. And everyone I've missed they've won. I'm sorry, I got that link to a working Sopcast feed and started watching the 3rd.

In the end, Crosby showed why TSN talks about him a lot -- 3A in one period to overcome a 2-goal deficit and win the game.

I know. Crosby turned it over to Crosby, who then shot it at Crosby. 2-1. Then Crosby took that shot from the blueline, and scored a weak one on Crosby. 2-2. On the third goal, Crosby's strong legs pushed past Crosby, Crosby and Crosby, and then he passed it to Crosby, who passed it to Crosby, who shot it, and it went in on Crosby. The fourth goal, though, that was ALL Crosby. He took the faceoff, perservered with passion past all the other Crosbies,, and then made an excellent pass to Crosby after a shot from Crosby deflected off of Crosby and bounced right back onto Crosby's stick. It was a Crosby of a performance. Gretzky Crosby. TSN. Gretzky Crosby.

Way, way up there somewhere, Andy said:That should bump them up to around the $50 million mark. Which means Ketchup won't be coming back unless a trade happens. But why is ESPN saying they need to move salary? Looks to me like they will still be under.-----Considering the CBA states that teams must leave room within the upper limit for suspended players' contracts (in case they come back, are reinstated, etc.), there's no way the Ducks have to clear room...unless of course they broke through the upper limit. Oh, that would be a fun press conference. :-)

This has already been mentioned, but I have to chime in as well. That TSN broadcast was embarrassing, Maguire in particular. His blinders for everyone not named Sidney was ridiculous. The only thing close is American TV coverage at the Olympics. That's not a standard to be emulated Pierre.

TSN's sad excuse for a broadcast is yet another reason the league had to change the schedule. Crosby visiting only once every three years turns it into a circus.

Hopefully that means other excellent stories have a chance of surviving next time Crosby visits. Like Pisani's amazing return to Rexall ice. Not even a peep in Thursday's Edmonton papers. Now that's embarrassing.

healy also said it when he was gushing about the virtues of the new schedule. it basically boiled down to how fans of the western conference would be blessed to see the greatness of the hockey played in the east.

Being that I live in Cowtown I wonder if Sportsnet is going turn tonights tilt into a Crosby spankathon. Jeebuss I hope Celine or Regyr give him the Brazilian wax.The boys let up and that is why we lost.

Doesn't TSN get to cover some of the hockey games during the Olympics? If that's the case, CROSBY playing for TEAM CANADA is going to make McDouchestalker go absolutely ballistic. CROSBY will be a "monster" just for waking up.

Actually, I'm surprised that Hemsky didn't take the challenge of playing against Crosby a little more to heart (seems like Horcoff did). Gretzky used to get charged up when he was playing big games, and you could actually see him raising the level of his own game. It was pretty damn cool to watch!